Conventional methods for bonding film gauges or strain gauges to be operated at elevated temperature are typically time consuming due to clamping and baking procedures used in those methods. Furthermore, because it is impractical to utilize an oven for curing adhesives in the field, different procedures and equipment are required. Prior art methods of mounting strain gauges involve the use of contact adhesives and epoxies to attach the strain gauge to the structural base. However, contact adhesives for mounting strain gauges are limited to low humidity environments during installation, low temperatures during usage of the strain gauge, and only permit about 90 days of useful data measurements. The epoxies used for attaching strain gauges to the base structures require the use of heat lamps, hair dryers or other electric heater devices to generate heat to cure the epoxies. The use of epoxy as a strain gauge bonding material usually requires a considerable amount of time and power. Another prior method uses a vacuum pressure applicator with a conduction heater. This process involves a large amount of pressure and many hours of preparation.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to quickly bond strain gauges to a variety of materials.
It is a further object of this invention to quickly bond strain gauges by using relatively low power.
It is a further object of this invention to quickly bond strain gauges in the field.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent in the specification and drawings which follow.